


A World Without You

by GlitternGlow



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Battle of Hogwarts, Character Death, Fights, M/M, Resurrection, Tomarry Halloween Exchange 2018, love (in their own way)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 02:20:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16441169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitternGlow/pseuds/GlitternGlow
Summary: Tom decides the world would be less dull if Harry was around to entertain him...forever.Written for a prompt from the Tomarry Halloween exchange 2018





	A World Without You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wolf_of_Lilacs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolf_of_Lilacs/gifts).



> Happy Tomarry-eve everyone. Hope you enjoy this little fic, I took many liberties and played around with timelines a little :)

He was betrothed, to a Malfoy of all things.

This betrayal would not go unpunished. Lucius would not get away with this tie of power. He would kill him, he would summon them all and kill him without waiting for an explanation. The snake would only lie to him, soothe his fears with pretty words and then continue to do as he wished.

How did he even get the papers for this?

Tom flicked his wand and the body of the poor, tortured muggle slid off the table, a trail of blood left in its wake.

“Clean that up,” he snapped and the few Death Eaters that lived here jumped to the task. He stopped one of them, pulling up the sleeve of their robe and pressing his finger to the brand. To their credit a small hiss was all that was heard. He was angry, and everyone could feel it.

The first to arrive was surprisingly Snape. His potions master was a fine man, and a brilliantly intelligent spy. On his arm was Harry Potter.

“Clear the room,” he commanded before anyone had noticed the two in the fireplace. “And do not allow me to be disturbed.”

The room was filled with rustling before it was deathly silent.

“Plans have changed. Dumbledore suspects.”

He loved that voice, it was commanding and strong. Harry was bred to lead armies, bred for leadership of the wizarding world. What a pity it had not treated him better.

He walked up to Voldemort who shed his snake like glamour to reveal the body that the two before him had been able to restore. His eyes were still red, but the rest of his skin was smooth, young, and his hair was thick and silky on his head. Lips met his as Harry put a hand through his hair, using the other as leverage while he was on tiptoe. There was a spark between them and Harry pulled back, his lip bleeding but a smile on his face.

“I always forget,” he muttered before Snape cuffed him around the head.

“You are an idiot.”

Harry just smiled at him. “We don’t have much time Tom, but Dumbledore is beginning to suspect that I’m not as loyal as he thinks. I am almost ready to move. If the preparations here are ready. Ron and Hermione await in the dungeons. Snape will go back and tell them. And this will let us know when they are ready to start.”

He held up a coin that seemed to be inscribed with some letters. Tom shook his head. “No, it is too early for this. We are not ready. There is some…. dissention that I must sort out.”

Snape snorted and then stepped back with his hand up in a placating gesture. Ever since Harry had chosen Snape to be their go between the man had no fear. Tom flicked his wand and a mild cutting curse hit Snape’s thigh. He cussed before shaking his head.

“Focus!” Harry said, his voice commanding the room as he licked the blood from his lip. Tom wanted to put more there, wanted to paint him in it. “Forget Lucius. It’s lies and you know it. I would never touch Draco, unless he gets in the way. Now why are you not ready?’

Tom huffed. “Snape, leave. He will be back in an hour.”

Severus looked to Harry but the teen just nodded and Snape melted into the background before vanishing.

His expression softened. “Talk to me.”

He turned away from Harry to look out of the tall floor to ceiling windows. Harry had changed him, more than just physically, but they still fought like they were real enemies. He had never tamed the thing inside him that demanded Harry’s blood even if he had managed to regain the most of his sanity. The boy didn’t seem to mind, even when he was sent back to Snape broken and bloodied. 

Tom’s fingers twitched but Harry was faster, not deadly though, not yet. Just a jelly legs which was easily countered. He was still too soft, too Gryffindor.

Tom snarled and turned, Sectumsempra on his tongue, it caught Harry’s left arm as he turned and he heard him mutter “Not playing around today then.” Before he fired back a variation of Diffindo that would slice him in two had it hit, but for now Harry was playing. Tom was not.

He sent a Crucio at Harry, and unprepared he went down, back arching from the floor in a glorious arc as his mouth opened in a silent scream. He really was exquisite. Tom let him go, wanting to continue the fight and as always, he was not disappointed when Harry got up. He was surprised when the next spell to leave Harry’s lips was Nox, and he was plunged into darkness. Before he could move, he was bound on the floor and his mouth covered by slim fingers.

“I know, you can do wandless and wordless. But enough now.” The voice was soft but the words behind it were not. Tom smirked and Harry rolled his eyes as his hair turned into antlers to match his Patronus. He took his fingers from Tom’s lips and made to get up.

“Ventus,” Tom snarled, anger still evident despite the playful spell. Harry flew back, crashing into the wall and falling to the floor. Unmoving.

Tom waited, watching for him to get up. It had only been a wind curse, Harry should have been fine. But still Harry didn’t move, and Tom realised he didn’t want to be without this. He needed the fire Harry held, the drive to beat him, the will to stop him. Even the fact the boy seemed to care for him. He was smart, he and his friends. He vowed then to speak with Snape. The boy would not make a Horcrux, but there would be something that could be done to ensure Harry was with him forever.

A groan came from by the wall as Harry struggled up, “Fine, be that way,” he said and his voice was frosty. “I will do what I can to fool him for now. Let Snape know if you want me.”

With that he was gone.

\----

Snape had taken hours to arrive, and when he did he was in a mood. He ranted about hurting Harry and what an idiot he was, before conceding that the boy was smart enough to cover when Snape told him that Harry had said he was at the Shrieking Shack and had been attacked by some of his Death Eaters. Dumbledore had bought the whole thing, and was offering Harry extra lessons with Snape, for duelling practice.

The final battle was so close, all of this planning, everything since they had met in the graveyard in Harry’s fourth year was coming to a close. That meeting had not gone as it was supposed to. The Diggory boy an inconsequential but unfortunate loss in that it skewed his plans. Harry was more of a fighter than he had considered of a fourteen year old child. They had been trapped in a spell web, his Death Eaters on the outside but invisible, unheard and Harry had asked him why he was doing this. He had snarled at him about his body and the boy promised to return it to him. He had been so shocked then, but it had come out that Harry thought Dumbledore was hiding something, and he was more and more wary of the old man.

Letters had been exchanged then, messages through Snape who was irksome at first but seemed to sort his differences with Harry. It wasn’t long after that that Harry had started greeting him with kisses, their magic rebelling against it, always injuring Harry in some way.

But always he smiled.

Snape coughed, bringing his attention back to the irascible man in front of him. “And I have told you, time and time again to stop using that blasted antler spell. It gives him headache for days and he is such an insufferable brat to everyone!”

“Are you done?” Tom asked as there was a knock at the large doors. Glamour back in place, and Snape hidden behind one of the huge drapes, he opened the door.

The hall was full of death eaters, and they looked varying shades of worried to angry.

“I found the traitor, you can go. But be ready, the attack on Hogwarts is to come soon. Practice, and make sure you are not a burden to the rest of us.”

He slammed the door then. Things would have to be moved up and he and Snape had to plan something for Harry.

\---

It had taken a month, a month without word from Harry, a month of research and appropriating the Potions Master as often as he was able but it was done.

Harry was tied to his soul. He would not be able to die now, not even if somehow the old fool got rid of the Horcrux that resided in Harry’s scar. There would be nothing that could tear them apart.

Snape was tired out, he barely kept his eyes open, but he sensed it a moment before Tom himself. Someone was coming.

“Snape!” the voice rang out. Harry was angry. It was the kind of angry that he was used to having directed only at himself, when Harry was younger and set on ending things. He couldn’t help a tingle running down his spine as he lifted his wand and cast a Protego around the tired Professor.

The doors burst open, Tom slipping his glamour off and standing to head off the angry young man but one look in Harry’s beautiful emerald eyes and he knew he would be fighting.

“Harry,” Snape started from his chair. He hadn’t moved and he didn’t intend to. If there was to be a fight Tom would take care of it. It was just how it was.

“Don’t!” he hissed. “Don’t even talk to me after what you did! I ought to kill you right now!”

Tom was intrigued now, especially as Harry had not noticed the Protego and usually he would have at least tried to dismiss it by now. he flung a blasting curse at the Professor, not even caring of the damage it made when it rebounded. The Emerald gaze narrowed and turned to fixate on Tom. 

Tom laughed, his eyes dancing with mirth. He made a flowery bow, to take the credit for the shield before Harry was on him. There were no words spoken, no wands used. Just the raw power of their fists, and whatever wandless magic they could produce. Tom’s was more subtle, cushioning charms and the like, while Harry didn’t think, just used his fists and feet.

Blood flew, bones cracked and Tom was sure Harry would have let go of him when his head hit the stone floor but there was no stopping this. “You tied me against my will!” he hissed, the Parseltongue stilling Tom mid punch. He had never thought that Harry would feel it, it had supposed to have been a secret. But now…. Tom smiled.

“We did,” he hissed back. “Which means I no longer need to hold back!”

Spells flew then, back and forth so quickly that Snape could not keep up. He watched in mild horror as Harry’s skin was died red with blood, a bone poking from his shin, his eye glued shut from a curse to his head that split open his scalp and his arm hanging loosely at his side, useless after a bone crushing curse.  
Tom fared only a little better, for all his experience he too had a broken bone or two and a fair bit of blood loss. He held up his hand when he saw Snape start to move.

“Stay, we are not done, are we Chosen One?” he mocked. He was enjoying himself, the pain deadened by the adrenaline. He had the upper hand over the boy, despite the damage he had sustained. Snape had been training him well.

Another cut drew blood, too close to his eye to be accidental and Tom hissed. He threw everything he had at Harry, sending his body through the window and into the large grounds. He panted and Snape raised an eyebrow.

“Done playing now My Lord?” he asked as he heaved himself up and over to the window. He stilled then, and with one look back that put Tom on edge he vaulted the window frame and was running.

\---

Harry was dead, laid out on his dining room table, but most definitely dead.

Tom was pacing.

Snape was leaning over the boy and trying his best to do something, the books they had used open around Harry.

After three hours, nothing had changed. Snape went back to Hogwarts, sworn to silence. Tom sat in his ornate chair, snakes soothingly hissing around his feet as he waited. He had killed Harry again, in a glorious battle. He was thinking that taking Hogwarts wouldn’t nearly be as much fun. Though seeing the old coot watch him win would be a memory to warm his dark nights should he need it.

The Death Eaters were attacking Hogsmead. They were restless and Tom needed them out of his hair. Lucius was in charge, Bellatrix sent along as watchdog. He knew she would have to die before the end. Harry would not accept her being alive. She was uncontrollable and had long since lost everything but her fanatical devotion.

“Whut happen’d?” a slur came from the oaken table top and Tom’s eyes snapped to the body there. 

“Harry?”

Harry sat up, his clothes crusted with dried blood, his face crunched in a grimace as he put a hand to his head. Air hissed through his teeth. “Healing would be good,” he said and Tom took up his wand, a few spells and an Anapneo for good measure and Harry twisted to cross his legs on the tabletop. “So, I guess I’m not mad.”

Tom blinked, the audacity of the child. He was going to- Harry cut him off with laughter. He cuffed him around the side of the head, before pressing a short kiss to his forehead.  
“Home, and get Snape to look you over.”

Harry shook his head. “I need to know when. I have trained for this, I have done as much as I can for the students. I need to know when you plan to come.”

Tom stepped back, thoughtful. “How about Halloween? The students will be in the Great Hall. That way you can indulge your saving people thing,” he smirked.

“I don’t have a- fine, Halloween. I will make sure we are ready.”

He hopped off the table and winced. “Can you take me to Hogsmeade?”

Tom cocked his head, Harry had never asked for anything like this before and he had left in much worse states than this. Harry shook his head. “My magic is playing up,” he explained and held his hand out towards a pen at the end of the table. “Wingardium Leviosa,” he intoned and nothing happened. Tom put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’ll come back.”

Harry nodded and they apparated, Tom going straight back before Harry fell to the dirt.

\---

The weeks to Halloween passed both quickly and far too slowly. Getting everyone in place had been the easiest part. There were moles inside the castle, ready to act when they arrived. The young Malfoy was to play his part too, though he didn’t know the full of it. That had to be done before he could move.

Dumbledore had to be taken care of.

Tonight, he would know. He laced his fingers together, the Death Eaters around him ready to move when the boy gave the signal. Snape was there, on edge it seemed and Tom knew it was because despite his head telling him it was right, and that it would save the boy from being a murderer, he did not want to kill his mentor. Harry’s voice appeared in his head, urging him to offer words of comfort. He didn’t do words of comfort.

“Snape,” he snapped and the black eyes turned to him. “You will do well.”

Snape almost smiled then, but merely bowed his head. “Yes, my lord.”

The magic activated then, the cabinet on the other side was open. All he had to do was wait for the news, and then, then when they were least expecting another attack, they would strike.

\---

Harry slung his body into the chair with the cushions, he always took that chair and it irked Tom. It was his chair.

Harry smirked at him as if he knew before he turned his legs to dangle over the arm. He sobered then.

“The funeral was…nice. Well attended. They made me give a speech. Snape is under suspicion but nothing concrete yet. The world is reeling from this. I…I’m reeling from this, even though I knew it was coming.”

Tom frowned. “Harry. It had to be done.”

“Did it? Did it really have to happen? Wasn’t there another way we could-“

“No!” Tom snapped. “You know there wasn’t. We went over everything and the old fool lied to us all Harry! The battle will be in a matter of days, this is what we needed!”

Harry nodded, his frown firmly in place. Tom huffed and crossed his arms. He sat in the other chair, just this once Harry could stay in the good one.

 

\---

It was chaos. Tom had expected it, but not to this extent. The trolls had the viaduct, the wizards’ enchanted armour making a good stand there. It was bound to fail but it allowed him access to where he wished to be. He had given them their hour, had given them everything Harry had asked for while Harry had updated him in the Horcruxes and the Room of Requirement. He had felt it when Nagini had been killed, like a hand punching through his chest but Harry had just flattened his mouth and put a comforting hand in his own.

He was angry, Nagini was dead, and she he would not be able to revive. His Horcruxes were gone. He would find the one who did this and end him. No matter what the original plan had been.

He hated that the old fool had made Harry walk to his death, hated the sniffling that came from the Half giant as he carried Harry’s limp body to the castle. He knew that the boy wouldn’t stay dead, but having to kill him for necessity took all the fun out of it. For the both of them. He knew Harry would hate this.

The courtyard silenced when they arrived, his loyal followers on one side with him, the students and Professors, as well as the Order were on the other. Dumbledore was dead. Snape had done his job well. Fenrir could be heard in the distance, faint sounds of fighting filtered to them but it didn’t matter. All eyes were on Hagrid and the body of Harry Potter.

“I am victorious!” he exulted, holding his glamoured hands high. Harry had insisted he wear the glamour for the fight so that he could emerge later in his real skin and be less likely to be recognised. Tom understood the need but missed looking at his smooth pale skin. It complimented Harry’s tan so well. “The battle is won. There must be an end to this fighting now. Lay down your wands.”

McGonogall swore as Harry was laid at his feet and he saw the slight movement of his chest as the cries came from his friends. only Snape knew Harry was not dead, his friends were visibly angered and devastated by the apparent loss.

His speech did nothing to the idiotic students and staff, and as the fighting broke out again, the giants were met with the creatures of light. Other giants from the mountains, centaurs, and new wizards swarmed the place. In the confusion Harry jumped up, protecting those he could. The battle moved inside the Castle and Tom followed. He searched for the one who had killed his precious familiar, ignoring anything else that wasn’t a direct threat. Bellatrix was fighting the Weasley Matriarch in the Great Hall. He would come back to that one later.

He was stilled by the scream then, turning back to the hall where Bellatrix was defeated. He growled, angry that he had not been the one to decide her demise and moved forward.

“Tom!” a voice he recognised yelled, and a cheer went up from the surrounding crowd. He knew it was Harry but he didn’t care now, he was too far outside the plan. This wasn’t how it was meant to be.

“Tom Riddle!” the voice boomed and Tom raised his wand. “Expelliarmus!”

The wand tugged, tried to leave his hand and he retaliated, casting Avada at the voice, but nothing happened. They were encased, Harry and him, much like at the graveyard. 

He looked around for a moment, a growl from low in his throat. “Why?!”

Harry looked sad as he shook his head, the light that connected their wands was stronger now, something was happening to it. “You can’t kill Molly.”

Tom raged and threw his power through his wand into the stream. “I will kill who I want to kill! She killed Bellatrix and she was mine!”

He could see Harry understood, but he also saw the resolution of the standoff. Harry was going to win, he knew it now. This whole time he had known but he didn’t want it to be so. He wanted to be in charge, to be victorious.

“No,” he whispered as he let his eyes meet Harry’s across the circle. “Avada Kedavra!” he yelled and watched Harry’s face fall to shock as the curse travelled towards him. A slight smile stuck on his face as their eyes never left each other. Harry looking into his red ones as if it was the real Tom he could see.

“Love you too,” he muttered but Tom heard, just as the Avada was to hit, but it didn’t.

The golden hue intensified and the curse bounced back. The last thing he saw was Harry’s wide eyes, shock colouring his face as the world went emerald then black.

\---

He dreamed, floating in the blackness. He could see the aftermath of the battle, moving through it like a ghost. He realised quickly that he was looking through Harry. 

Students were taken back to the hall, laid out for their families to find. Harry recognised a few people in there. The Weasley’s were all ok, crowded around with each other. Ron left them with a pat to their shoulder and joined his family, Hermione followed. Tom and Harry didn’t belong there.

Remus and Tonks, they laid together, a woman near them holding a tiny baby that Harry registered was his cousin, Teddy. He didn’t want to intrude on her grief. He turned to walk out, noting students laid with their families, no longer bright and vibrant. Colin Creevey was there, and a lump formed in his throat. This was not right. They would sort this out. They had to. Tom wanted to soothe his thoughts, but he was powerless her as he felt Harry’s feelings.

The coin heated their palm. So, Snape got Tom to safety. He would come back for Harry soon. He just had to wait.

Wait? Wait for what? He wondered as the darkness closed back in.

\---

Tom woke up, his head groggy. Not sure where he was and so waiting to hear any sound.

There was nothing, some birds outside but the house was silent. He groaned as the memory returned, the bright green light like Harry’s eyes. He growled then. He had lost. The Light had won out.

“Don’t look so upset,” a voice soothed and Tom cracked an eye open. “You lost at Hogwarts, but we have won Tom. Everything is in place. Dumbledore is dead, Snape is headmaster and McGonagall is his second. The Wizarding World is now ours to shape. With a little help of course.”

Tom looked to Harry, his emerald eyes shining in the dim light of the dawn. A smile grew across his face.

Yes, he didn’t regret it. He didn’t regret anything at all.


End file.
